


querencia

by damnspacebois (Race_Jackson23)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Betrayal, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dorms, Drabble Collection, Drunken Shenanigans, Early Mornings, Fist Fights, Galaxy Garrison, M/M, Morning Cuddles, Mornings, Multi, Old Married Couple, One Shot Collection, Pre-Kerberos Mission, Scary Movies, Will Tag More As More Is Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-13
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-06 04:02:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 3,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14633678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Race_Jackson23/pseuds/damnspacebois
Summary: querenciaf(pluralquerencias),noun: a place from which one’s strength of character is drawn.Just a series of drabbles and oneshots ft. Sheith! Mostly fluffy but with some angst thrown in for kicks (because lbr, these boys are angst magnets).Order:1. Tutoring2. Haircuts3. Early Morning4. Horror Movies5. Lying6. Love At First Fight7. The Future8. Takeaway AU (pt. 1/?)9. Perfect





	1. Tutoring

Shiro was … built. Keith had known that from the very start, had seen Shiro’s leg and arm muscles rippling with the strain of weight-work. And even if he hadn’t, Shiro’s go-to off-duty look was a tank top and gym shorts, so, really, Keith had a pretty good idea of how built Shiro was. He’d ogled those muscles on more than one occasion and was honest-to-god ready to do so at a moment’s notice.

What he _wasn’t_ ready for was close proximity with said built b–

“So that’s why – Keith? Are you ok?”

A hand shoved in Keith’s face snapped him out of his drooling. He blinked. And suddenly he was back in the dorm, Shiro waving a hand in concern as the crease between his eyebrows crinkled. The material he was holding up became sharper in Keith’s line of sight and he had to kick himself as he realised he’d zoned out on their _tutoring session_.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Keith said quickly, straightening out of his slouch. “I don’t think I got that last part though, could you explain it again?”

But before Shiro could launch into another explanation, the door slid open and Shiro’s roommate trudged in, throwing his bag at the door and launching himself onto his bed and covering his head with his pillow. A soft groan came from the pillow. Keith raised his eyebrows at Shiro, who looked just as perplexed as he did, but before he could say something, Matt Holt popped up and glared at them suspiciously.

“What are you doing?” he said, his voice all but accusatory.

Shiro raised an eyebrow. “I’m tutoring Keith in chem. He’s had a little trouble understanding the content so I thought I’d help him out.”

“Hmmmm,” was all Matt said, and it was with a dawning horror that Keith realised Matt was his TA in that subject.

The subject that he’d asked Shiro for help in.

The one that he was, in fact, topping.

Which Matt very clearly knew, if the glee on his face was anything to go by.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to leave a prompt here or on tumblr (where I'm @damnspacebois)


	2. Haircuts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> haircuts + drunk nights out = unhappy Command

“Oh no.”

In his haze of early morning and hangover, Shiro heard those two words and he felt more awake than he ever had. _Oh no_ was never a good thing to hear first thing in the morning after a – _pretty blind drunk, he noted with a wince, headache at the forefront_ – night out. _Oh no_ meant regrets that went beyond queasy stomachs and stinky mouths. _Oh no_ was _bad_.

“What’s ‘oh no’?” he asked, his own voice grating despite pitching it low. He winced as he attempted to open up his eyes, recoiling from the sunlight. “Keith? What is it?”

“Takashi … I’m _so sorry_.”

If _oh no_ was bad, _I’m so sorry_ was one thousand times worse.

“What happened?!” Shiro gasped. He bolted upwards in bed, ignoring the hammer that splintered his brain at the sudden moment and gripped Keith by the shoulders. Squinting, he took in the guilty expression on his boyfriend’s face. “Keith?!”

Keith bit his lip before holding up the reversed camera on his phone and saying, “We got into the scissors. Your hair… _Takashi_ …”

Where there had once been total fear, Shiro couldn’t help but be relieved when his brain processed his appearance. He was, of course, a total mess. Eyes bloodshot, face pale, sweating slightly – he looked sick. But the hair – _the hair_ – _whatever_ Keith had done to his hair…

It was definitely not regulation.

“It’s ok babe,” he told Keith, although he knew it would be anything but come Monday morning. “You did it, so of course I love it.”

Now just to convince Command, he mused as Keith beamed up at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to prompt here or on tumblr (where I am @damnspacebois)


	3. Early Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They need to get up but Keith just wants to sleep.

It was cold when he awoke, but he didn’t remain that way for long. Muscled arms wrapped around his torso from behind. A face pressed into the juncture of his throat and collarbones and Keith hummed appreciatively, content to lie there in his lover’s arms and soak up his warmth. Of all the ways to wake up of a morning, this was undoubtedly his favourite.

“G’morning, baby,” rumbled his voice in Keith’s ear, and he couldn’t hold back a shiver that had nothing to do with the cold. He sighed, snuggling back into Shiro’s broad chest. “Babe, no, we need to get up.”

“Don’t wanna,” whined Keith. He cracked open an eye and promptly closed it again in favour of trying to go back to sleep. “Wanna sleep.”

Shiro groaned. The sound reverberated against Keith’s back, and he let out another sigh of contentment.

“Babe,” Shiro warned. “Babe, we have to get up.”

But even he sounded reluctant to get up from the warmth of their bed. From where Keith laid, he could see rain drizzling outside, and he knew that the day would be better spent in bed.

And so he shuffled around in Shiro’s arms, intent on convincing his lover of that with his lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, feel free to prompt here or drop me a line @damnspacebois on tumblr.


	4. Horror Movies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro doesn't like horror movies, but he does like the cuddles that come with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't mentioned this yet, but all these prompts are coming from my brilliant friends @chicken--chips and @zaynseyelash. This one is courtesy of @chicken--chips.

_Bam!_

Shiro jumped. Unfortunately, Keith also jumped at the same time, and their foreheads collided with an audible crack and a stream of expletives. Keith knocked over the bowl in his lap and popcorn found itself strewn across the floor in the chaos, which of course invited Black and Red into the mix, and it all became a mess of dog, human, and popcorn alike.

Unluckily for them (or luckily, if Shiro were being honest), it took ten minutes to calm the dogs down, and by that point, they’d missed the part of the movie where half the cast had died. They persevered regardless, to Shiro’s chagrin. Not five minutes later, there was another graphic death scene, and then another, and another. He hated it.

The best part, though, and the only reason he watched horror movies at all, was that Keith got _really_ clingy watching them - which was unexpected, considering all they'd been through, but, well, that was Keith. Shiro got clingy too, far too horrified to deal with the scenes before him unless he had someone to hold him in his fear, but Keith was next level clingy. He’d bunch his hands in Shiro’s shirt, hide his face in Shiro’s chest. His grip would always get really tight at tense moments to the point where Shiro was almost certain he had as-of-yet-undiscovered Galra strength.

Shiro loved it.

As the creature on screen tore into one of the sorority girls, Keith whimpered and turned his head into Shiro’s shoulder. Shiro just tightened his grip on the younger man, his own face sickly pale in the television’s reflection.

He loved the gore much, _much_ less.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to prompt me here or @damnspacebois on tumblr!


	5. Lying

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another of @chicken--chips's.

Keith hadn’t meant to lie. At first, it hadn’t even been a lie, just something he failed to mention. Then it had come up a few times, and he’d thought that a white lie wouldn’t hurt – it would be beneficial even, it would keep the peace. He just had Shiro’s feelings in mind, after all, and it was just a little white lie.

Sixty years, several rebellions, three children, and eight grandchildren later, Keith finally was able to admit to himself that had become more than a white lie. And he had to resolve it.

“Shiro,” he murmured one day as they were sitting out on the porch, watching their youngest grandchild toddle after her cousins. “Shiro, I need to tell you something.”

His husband didn’t react, and it occurred to Keith that his shoddy hearing probably hadn’t picked up on it. He poked him in the ribs, and he startled.

“What?” he squeaked, rubbing his chest.

“I need to tell you something,” Keith replied, unaffected and undeterred. “I’ve been … keeping something from you for … years, now. Decades. I can’t let it go unsaid any longer, but I’m worried it will change everything.”

Shiro quirked his head like a puppy, confusion evident even in the wrinkles of his face. For a moment, Keith was struck by how handsome he was. Some would say that was in spite of the age marring his features, but Keith was sappy enough to believe it was _because of_ those lines; they were their lives etched into flesh, and Keith would always think that beautiful.

“What is it?” said Shiro softly. Guiltily, Keith leaned forward, lips at his husband’s ear as he relayed his dirty secret, and he was close enough to see the surprise and anger that appeared there as Shiro processed his words.

Slowly, seriously, his husband said, “I want a divorce.”

Keith threw up his hands.

“I’m sorry, ok?”

“You lied! You told me you loved my banana bread for _sixty years_ Keith! Sixty years!”

“I didn’t want to hurt your feelings,” Keith protested. “You were so _bad_ at everything else, I didn’t have the heart to take this away from you.”

“No, you only wanted to stab me in the back when I was old and grey. Thanks.”

Keith shook his head, a smile that matched Shiro’s playing at his lips. He leant forward and gave Shiro a fond peck on the cheek.

“What a drama queen,” was all he said, and all he needed to say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, feel free to leave a prompt or talk to me @damnspacebois on tumblr.


	6. Love At First Fight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to @chicken--chips for this. It's not what you asked for, but it's all I could think of when you prompted love at first fight.

Shouting reaches Shiro’s ears first. Before he realises where it's coming from, there’s a moment where it just leaves him in the middle of the hallway, confused. The students around him, between classes like him, start to mutter and make their way towards the noise, and that’s when the other shoe drops.

And since Shiro’s a star pupil, well – it’s basically his duty to get involved. That, and he’s nosey.

As he comes around the corner, though, he’s glad that he is. Surrounded by a horde of students, a group of younger cadets are going at it, three against one. They’re all fighting dirty – as if three to one isn’t enough of an indicator of fighting dirty – all nails and hair pulling and brutal fists. Watching them whale on the other guy is like watching hurricane batter a dilapidated shack. Or it would be, because – _because_ – despite their brutality, their numbers, they’re _losing_.

Where they’re all heavy punches, he’s swift jabs. When they lumber forward, trying to catch him off guard, he dances away, fluidity given form. There’s lightning in his eyes too, a bolt of crazy that’s ferocious and gleeful and steals Shiro’s breath away and scrambles his brain until it’s almost incapable of processing thoughts.

Then two get too close to Lightning Eyes, and they’re on the floor in a heartbeat, cursing as they clutch at bruised shins and twisted wrists. Shiro doesn’t get to see what Lightning Eyes would do to the last thug. Of course, that’s when his brain engages with the rest of his body like _oh shit that’s a fight do something you idiot_ and he’s pulling him out of the fray while other students do the same to the other guy.

Lightning Eyes is only in his arms a moment before he’s ripping Shiro off him and storming away with a glare, but by then it’s too late for Shiro. He watches him go, star-struck, because…

 _Damn_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to prompt here or @damnspacebois on tumblr <3


	7. The Future

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something fluffy and cute to feed the monster!

“I’m going to marry you someday,” said Shiro.

Keith started. He’d been reading through his advanced astrophysics textbook, chewing absentmindedly on the end of his pen as he tried every method he knew to kick his brain into gear. Reading the same paragraph over and over again without any of it sinking in was getting on his nerves, and frustrated tears were starting to creep into his eyes when Shiro just completely blindsided him.

“What? Did you just – what?” he gaped, eyeing his boyfriend as he lounged on Keith’s bed.

Shiro’s face was a picture of contentedness that Keith couldn’t help but envy as he replied, “You. Me. Husbands.” Keith would be lying if he said his brain hadn’t short-circuited at that. “One day, at least,” Shiro continued. “We’d look good in wedding pictures.”

“We look good regardless,” Keith shot back instinctively, and then what Shiro had said really sank in. “Husbands?”

“Yeah,” said Shiro, his face lighting up. “I mean, we’d get married after you graduate, of course, and after I come back from Kerberos. Maybe even after your first mission? Just so you can get your career on track first, and then eventually we’ll settle in Tokyo to be closer to my parents so they can be there for the kids–”

“Kids?”

“Yeah, of course,” laughed Shiro. “Three. Two girls and a boy. And a dog, of course.”

A lump pressed in his throat. Keith was utterly speechless, his brain racing as it tried to string together something to say. _The truth_ , something whispered in his ear, and so he did.

“I didn’t think you’d want that with … me.”

Shiro stilled, and then he was crawling over the bed and onto Keith, pinning him in place. Textbooks fell off the bed, but Keith paid them no mind, too focused on Shiro above him and the swoop of heat in his belly. He swallowed. Their eyes met. And then Shiro spoke.

“Baby, you’re it for me. When you’re near, all I want to do is take you in my arms and never let go. You’re the last thing I think of when I fall asleep, the first thing I think of when I awake. You’ve taken my heart, Keith, there’s no room there for anyone else. You’re it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NGL this is an excerpt from a oneshot I just posted [nothing but memories](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14767418). Have fun with that lol but read the warnings before.


	8. Takeaway AU (pt.1/?)

“You’ve saved me again.”

The smile Shiro sends Keith’s way is rueful and sends his heart aflutter as he manages to murmur, “Any time.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” declares Shiro, smile widening as he gathers his takeaway without looking away from Keith. If Keith didn’t know him any better, he’d be worried that he’d knock something over, but he does know better, and if he’s learnt anything in the past six weeks that Shiro had started ordering with them, it’s that the man is deceptively graceful. He throws Keith a mock salute as he leaves. “Thanks again!”

Keith is torn between wishing Shiro would come back and admiring the spectacular view of his backside. It must show on his face, because the next thing he knows, Lance is poking him in the ribs and making mocking faces like the annoying dick that he is.

“Oooooooo, _Shiro and Keith, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n–_ hey!” Rubbing at his chest where Keith had jabbed him, Lance pouted. “You’re the one who’s pining over Tall & Handsome like an eighth-grade girl, I’m just pointing it out.”

“I’m not pining,” Keith mutters. “He’s just … confusing. Doesn’t need to be so thankful all the time, it’s only takeaway.”

Lance snorts. “Keep telling yourself that, buddy.”

 _I will_ , thinks Keith snidely, even though the logical part of him is worried that Lance is right. Then Keith is the one snorting, because _like that’s ever going to be a thing_.


	9. Perfect

Shiro flinches.

Anyone who doesn’t know him well would miss it. It’s a little movement, barely a recoil. His face tenses a moment before smoothing out. Where his fingers grasp the bed sheets, they twitch. A calm visibly falls over him then, face a mask of neutrality that Keith doesn’t believe for a moment, and it sets off a churning feeling in Keith’s stomach that has his hands retreating from the hem of Shiro’s shirt.

“Babe?” he says, his voice a narrative in uncertainty. He pulls away completely when Shiro just shakes his head with a small half-smile that does nothing to allay Keith’s worries. “Baby, what is it?”

“Nothing,” Shiro denies, but his voice is gruffer than usual. Vulnerable. “Nothing, baby, it’s nothing.”

“Takashi, don’t. What’s wrong?”

The tone of Keith’s voice allows no protest, and it’s clear to Keith that Shiro knows that, his grey eyes examining his face before dropping to his lap. Back tense, he sighs, fiddling at his metal hand with his human one and avoiding the piercing gaze Keith has pinned on him. When he speaks, Keith has to lean in to hear anything.

“The druids, they – and the arena, too. I don’t look … I don’t look like I used to, is all,” he murmurs, gaze still directed at his lap. “I don’t want you to– to look at me differently.”

Rage, pure and consuming, fills him. That Haggar and her dreadful witches had even touched Shiro in the first place makes his blood boil, but that they’d made him worry so … it makes him even more wrathful. He has to swallow it down, though, as Shiro’s eyes, pleading and soft and tearful, meet his, because he’s not sure how his lover would take it. Knowing Shiro, it could only be poorly.

“Listen to me,” Keith says. Shiro flinches again, Keith’s anger having bubbled too close to the surface and bloodying his voice with something savage and untamed. He clears his throat, willing it down again. “Listen to me, Takashi, please.

“Nothing those witches did to you would ever make me see you differently. Nothing you did in that arena would ever make me see you differently. No–” Keith shakes his head as Shiro opens his mouth and then ploughs on “–nothing, I promise you that. You’re perfect to me, Takashi, please believe me.”

Shiro shifts, tears spilling over onto his cheeks. Everything in Keith wants to rush forward and kiss them away, but, hesitant over spooking him, he takes his time. A hand on Shiro’s thigh, another slowly reaching forward to brush away his white forelock. Body scooting closer until they’re sitting side-by-side again and a kiss pressed to his forehead. Then lips trailing down his face slowly, pressing little kisses to the scar that bisects his nose, his cheeks, his tears, before going lower.

The look they share as Keith pulls away is tender and full of meaning. His eyes hold a question, reassuring and understanding, and the look he receives is all he needs to know he’s been understood. Shiro nods, almost imperceptibly, and then Keith is pulling his shirt up and off to expose the expanse of his chest.

There are scars there that hadn’t been before Kerberos. Some are tiny, little ridges of skin where blades or something similarly sinister have nicked the flesh. Others are longer; they span from side to side, shoulder to shoulder, raised and angry like they haven’t healed properly. They’re all ugly things, terrible markings that mar what had once been a canvas Keith worshipped, and it makes him angry to think of how Shiro suffered at the Galra’s hand.

But the thing is – the thing is: the scars are ugly, but Shiro’s never been more beautiful. He’s lying there, eyes on Keith, more vulnerable than he’s ever seen him, but _he’s lying there_. He’s _there_ , he’s _alive_ and after everything they’ve put him through, everything he’s endured, that’s nothing less than a miracle. He’s never been more stunning in all the time Keith’s known him.

And so he presses his lips to those ridges, those raised edges where Shiro’s skin has torn but _mended_ , where he’s been hurt but healed. Softly, feather-light, Keith kisses a path down his chest. Shiro shudders under his ministrations and, by the time Keith’s kissed every scar he can see and rests himself on Shiro’s belly, his pupils are blown wide, his mouth ajar.

“Perfect,” murmurs Keith, and that’s enough to set Shiro off.

He bursts into tears. Sobs wrack his form, loud and visceral, and Keith finds himself wrapping his arms around him and holding him tight. Shiro leans into him, still shuddering with the strength of his cries as he borrows his face into Keith’s chest. Keith says nothing, just holds him close, letting the familiar scent of Shiro’s shampoo wash over him as he noses his hair.

It's later, when Shiro's crying has faded away and he's exhausted in Keith's arms, that Keith makes sure to kiss his forehead again and whisper, "You're perfect to me, Shiro. Don't ever forget that."

Keith swears to himself that he would never let him. And for as long as he lived, he did just that.


	10. Sick

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Gargi, who is sad about the latest ep of the Originals.

“Shrooo.”

Shiro started. He blinked, and in a second he went from completely unconscious to wide awake, the gravelly voice in his ear startling him into full awareness. With it came the view of his dresser and its messy top, covered with watches and papers that were strewn about, and then the realisation that the warm body beside him in bed was just _that much warmer_ than it usually was.

“Keith?” he groaned, rubbing his eyes as he rolled over in bed. Apart from the shock of dark hair peeking out the top, Keith was nothing more than a lump under the sheets. “Baby? Are you alright?”

A moan came from the lump.

“That’s a no, then,” murmured Shiro. With a sigh, he pushed the sheets off himself, ignoring Keith’s protesting groans, and found his slippers by the bed. Putting them on, he started to make his way to the kitchen, calling, “I’ll be back in a second, honey.”

“Shroo,” came another pitiful moan, but Shiro was already in the kitchen starting the coffee maker up.

He was quick in the kitchen, though, unwilling to leave Keith by himself when he was in such a state. The coffee machine bubbled on as he searched for the pain medication, locating it behind the cups in the third drawer down. He hummed happily, then went about grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge before making his way back to the bedroom.

In the space of time it had taken him to get together what he needed, Keith hadn’t moved a muscle. Shiro watched him, a fond warmth in his chest. Then Keith shifted with a moan and Shiro was at his side, coaxing him into a sitting position.

“Come on, baby, sit up. You need to have these then you can go back to sleep.”

When Keith sat up slowly but without complaint, Shiro knew he was truly sick. His skin, usually a soft gold, was a ghastly white and he had bags under his eyes that made him look like he’d been punched in the nose. He sniffled, leaning into Shiro’s chest slightly as he was passed the tablets.

“Come on, darling, it’ll be over in a sec,” murmured Shiro into his hair.

Keith whimpered. “Hurts.”

“I know,” Shiro soothed, “I know. Take these and you’ll feel better. That’s it.”

He had to hold the glass as Keith drank from it, but otherwise, his fiancé had surprising control over his faculties. No doubt it was something left over from the years Keith had spent by himself, surviving and looking after himself with no adults to help. Sometimes, it was hard to convince him he didn’t need to go it alone any more.

_Other times …_

Keith snuggled into his chest and it took less than a minute for his breathing to level out into sleep. Shiro shook his head, setting the glass down on the table and settling into the pillows.

Other times Keith needed no convincing, and those were the moments he cherished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, feel free to request something by leaving a comment or visiting me on tumblr, where I'm @damnspacebois.


End file.
